1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a vehicle lighting device. In particular, the present invention relates to a vehicle lighting device in which a light emitting element is employed as a light source.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a vehicle lighting device of such type, for example, it has been conventionally known that: a vehicle lighting device is made of a heat sink, a light emitting element, and a reflection surface; in a region of a flat surface of the heat sink, the light emitting element is mounted so that light from a light emission surface thereof is emitted in a first direction that crosses the flat surface; and the light from the light emitting element is reflected and then the reflected light is emitted in a second direction that crosses the first direction (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-41558).
In addition, it has also been conventionally known that a vehicle lighting device is provided in such a manner that: on the reflection plate, at a peripheral edge portion on the side of the first direction, a portion referred to as a so called erected wall is formed integrally with the reflection plate; and by means of this erected wall, light leakage that is not reflected on the reflection plate, from among beams of the light from the light emitting element, is shaded or scattered (refer to Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 6-203612).
In the following description, the erected wall is referred to as a light leakage processing plate, based on the above described function.
As other documents associated with the present invention, for example, there are exemplified Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-61841 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-135107. In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-61841, there is disclosed a technique in which a rib that is formed in a reflector made of a reflection plate is engaged with a rib that is formed in a housing, whereby positioning of the reflector has been achieved. In addition, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-135107, there is disclosed a technique in which at an outside of an opening end of the reflector, surface processing such as reflection processing is applied to a portion that is visualized in a surface processing range of an extension portion of an inner panel, whereby its related appearance has been improved.
However, in the vehicle lighting device described above, a reflection plate and a light leakage processing plate are integrally configured with each other, as described above; and therefore, in a case where the reflection plate is formed of a metal or the like, for example, the light leakage processing plate must also be formed of a same kind of metal, and for example, there has been an inconvenience that a total weight of the reflection plate increases.
In addition, even if the reflection plate is reduced in thickness, for example, by virtue of a similar reason, there has been an inconvenience that a certain limitation is applied to reduction of the reflection plate in thickness by the presence of the light leakage processing plate. The light leakage processing plate is formed in the shape of a prism or the like for scattering light on its surface; and therefore, a thickness of this plate comparatively increases and concurrently a thickness of the reflection plate also inevitably increases in order to maintain a mechanical strength.
Further, the vehicle lighting device described above has entailed an inconvenience insofar that the reflection plate and the light leakage processing plate are integrally configured with each other, whereby with respect to the light from the reflection plate, at its related periphery, light from the light leakage processing plate is incident to its appropriate portion; and therefore, a boundary with the light leakage processing plate become unclear (becomes opaque without a difference in brightness), and is visually seen as if the boundary were coming down against the background with respect to its related periphery. Such an inconvenience is observed similarly irrespective of whether or not the vehicle lighting device is lit.
The present invention has been made in view of such a circumstance, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle lighting device in which one restriction and another are not applied to a reflection plate and a light leakage processing plate, respectively; constructions based on their unique functions can be made; and light that is reflected by means of the reflection plate has a difference in brightness against the background with respect to its related periphery irrespective of whether or not a light source is lit, and the reflected light has an appearance as if it were coming up against the background with respect to the periphery.
In order to achieve such an object, according to the present invention, a light leakage processing plate and a reflection plate are configured respectively independently, and in a case where a direction of light from a light emitting element, the light being reflected on the reflection plate, is defined to be an A direction; and the light leakage processing plate is disposed so as to have a gap with a peripheral edge part in the A direction of the reflection plate, and is configured so as to be extended over the peripheral edge part of the reflection plate in the side of the A direction and an opposite side to the A direction, respectively. Therefore, the reflection plate and the light leakage processing plate are configured respectively independently; and therefore, they attain an advantageous effect that constructions based on their unique functions can be made without one restriction and another being respectively applied thereto, respectively. In addition, a gap is provided between the reflection plate and the light leakage processing plate; and therefore, the light that is reflected by means of the reflection plate has a difference in brightness against the background with respect to its related periphery, and has an advantageous effect as if the reflected light were coming up against the background with respect to the periphery.